Rod Blagojevich Understands Graft, Does Not Understand Politics

This fall, tens of thousands of college students will take an introductory political science course and hear these words: "Politics is who gets what, when, and how." The maxim, coined by Harold D. Lasswell in 1935, is said to perfectly condense the way in which we govern ourselves. Notice that "get" is the linchpin in that sentence's scheme.

Rod Blagojevich certainly got part of the "get" lesson. As proved by this week's testimony in his Chicago corruption trial, the former governor spent much of his time scheming over all the ways he could get, get and GET. Cash, that is.

Most Popular

"So what do you think I can get for the senate seat?" is what Blago's former chief of staff, John Harris, alleges his ex-boss asked for the first time on October 6, 2008. Two months later, Harris was arrested in the dawn roundup of the Blagojevich brothers. He pleaded guilty last year for his part in trying to sell Barack Obama's seat, and now tells his story from the witness stand in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Harris says he replied incredulously to the original inquiry, telling the governor that he could "get a new ally or reward an ally, that's what you can get." Blago got quiet, he says. In later conversations, the Guv would ask about how much money the seat could garner. "You can't ever joke like that," their lawyer admonished them at the time. Harris remembers their being advised, "Whether you're serious or not, don't say things like that."

See, in politics, there are things you can get and get ahead, and there are things you can get and go to jail.

As an example of the latter, Harris testifies that Blagojevich flirted with the idea of picking the outgoing Illinois state Senate president for the Obama seat. The appointment would come with the understanding that on his way out, the legislator would kill an ethics bill that cramped the governor's fundraising style. While still dubious, such a deal would have been far less explosive in a courtroom than the $1 million in campaign cash that associates of Jesse Jackson, Jr., allegedly promised. Blagojevich ultimately didn't go the anti-ethics bill route because he didn't think the legislator would hold up his end of the bargain, especially since that bargain would not be explicit.

For here is one of the causes of Blago's downfall: leaving the 'get' shrouded in the murkiness that most politicians employ. As he was fretting over his financial future, that risk was too much for Rod to bear. He wanted a certainty that politics, with its who-what-when-and-how, can't always offer.

It's why Harris says the governor was so giddy on election night 2008, when he got word from a union leader with inside information that Obama wanted his advisor Valerie Jarrett filling his seat. Blagojevich immediately started gaming the negotiation. On an FBI-recorded conversation, Harris advised him to ask the union leader, "How do we take care of the president-elect's issues as well as the people of Illinois?"